Church Responds To Chile Quake

As Chile’s Catholic Church coordinated aid to victims of the massive earthquake that struck the country’s central coast on Feb. 27, church leaders expressed their condolences to families of the more than 700 people killed. Bishop Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua, president of the Chilean bishops’ conference, said, “We ache for our brothers and sisters who have lost their lives, and we pray for their families and friends and those who have lost all their possessions.” Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet declared the southern regions of Maule and Bio-Bio a disaster area, ordered the army to reinforce the police and imposed a nighttime curfew on the region to halt the looting of stores. Most deaths were in the Maule region, where a quake-triggered tsunami swept through coastal villages.